Doka Don't You Know
by Lord Chungus
Summary: Due to an odd witch and a misuse of Homura's powers, a grown-up Holy Quintet end up appearing before their past selves. They have a lot to tell themselves.
1. Chapter 1

"Kyoko, to the right!"

Homura leaps up into the air, hoping that her warning was sufficient. Kyoko glances to her right, eyes widening as she drops to the ground to avoid the clock chunk flying her way.

"Thanks for the heads-up!" says Kyoko.

"Stay on task!" shouts Mami. "Don't let yourselves get distracted!"

"I know, _mom_!" Kyoko says, but nevertheless turns her attention to the clock with in front of them.

"Sayaka, Kyoko, keep it busy!" says Mami. "Homura, you intervene if things get too close for comfort. Madoka, you and I will hit it from afar!"

Madoka nods, and everyone runs off to do their part. Sayaka and Kyoko move in and out of the clock witch's range, landing a few glancing blows on its smooth white body before leaping out of the way of the clock-hands that fly their way in response. After nearly twelve years of fighting together, the five of them had gotten pretty good. Just to make their jobs easier, Walpurgisnacht's grief seed gave them a functionally infinite magic capacity, and it had done so for over a decade without any sign of losing its shimmer.

"Madoka, now!" shouts Mami. They unleash their attack, yellow cannonball and pink arrow twirling around each other for a devastating blow.

Unfortunately, this light show has the rather hazardous side-effect of drawing the attention of Sayaka and Kyoko right to it, and more importantly, away from the witch. It's a good thing, then, that Homura is not so easily distracted. She mutters something, no doubt cursing her friend's inattention, and turns her shield. The gears turn, and the world turns grey as Homura activates her timestop. She hops down to Kyoko and Sayaka, eyeing them with a look of exasperated warmth.

"Oh, you two," she says, shaking her head. Allowing herself a small smile in the isolation of stopped time, Homura reaches our and puts her hands on Sayaka and Kyoko's shoulders. The two of then flicker to life, color returning in an instant, and Kyoko begins to turn. Unfortunately, she happens to brush against a clock-hand suspended in midair, bringing it into timestop with her.

"Hey Homira, how ya- oh, shit!"

Kyoko leaps out of the way, and while she isn't injured the hand doesn't stop. It keeps on going, despite being in Homura's time stop without touching her. Homura turns to look at Kyoko who, much like the witch's attack, is still moving. "This is bad," says Sayaka. "Let's-" She's cut off as the ground rumbles beneath them, nearly bowling them all over. Homura lets out a cry of shock and pain, doubling over and clutching her shield arm.

"It- it hurts," she hisses. "I'm going to deactivate it. Get Mami to connect us!"

Sayaka nods, and Homura lets time flow once more. She lets out a sigh of relief as the pain fades, though Madoka's cry of worry causes a less physical pain.

"Mami, connect us!" yells Sayaka, hands cupped around her mouth. Yellow ribbons fly out, wrapping around the four other magical girls as pink arrows rain down on the witch, and Homura clenches her teeth as she wills her shield to turn. It does so, sparks flying as the world turns to grey. The five girls remain moving, and the witch does so as well.

"Okay, what the fuck!" says Kyoko. "Oh right, clocks, time, IT'S STILL BULLSHIT!"

The barrage of arrows stops, and the witch takes the opportunity to launch one last attack at the downed time-traveler.

"Don't you dare!" screams Madoka. She pulls back a giant arrow, golding it in place as it grows and then condenses. Kyoko, meanwhile, erects a barrier of red chains, which bend and buckle under the force of the witch's attack but do not break.

The witch's final attack fails to kill its target. Madoka responds with one of her own, releasing the mighty arrow and watching as it flies towards the witch. It collides, bathing the barrier in pink light, and they all shudder as the witch lets out a dying scream. "Well, that almost went to shit," says Kyoko. Cupping her hands around her mouth, she turns around and shouts "Nice finisher, Madoka!"

Madoka responds with a thumbs up, but the other three don't join in on the celebrations.

"Is it just me," says Sayaka. "Or is the witch getting louder?"

It's not just her.

The pink light changes to grey, renewing in intensity and forcing the other to cover their eyes and look away.

"Mami, keep us connected! Everyone else, get behind me!" yells Homura. She stands up, knees shaking, and she puts her shield in front of her. The other follow her command, Mami and Madoka hopping down to join Sayaka and Kyoko behind their friend.

"Homura, are you sure this is wise?" says Mami. "Given how the witch interacted with your timestop-"

"My shield doesn't rely on time magic!" she responds. "And even if they _do_ react, who else here has shielding magic?"

"Homura, I _literally_ just saved your ass with my chain barriers."

"Let me rephrase; who else has magic _designed_ to be used as a shield, and not weapon magic they put in the way of enemy attacks?"

Kyoko shrugs, conceding the point, but still puts a layer of chains between Homura and the witch. "Well, it can't hurt," she explains. They all settle into silence, the bair blowing as the witch's cry gets louder.

Madoka walks up to the front, struggling against the gusts of wind emanating from the witch. "Homura, are you sure you can handle this?" she says, worry clear on her face.

"I'm sure. I can protect you, _all_ of you. No witch can ever stop that."

Madoka smiles. "I believe you." She hesitates, before planting a gentle kiss to Homura's cheek. "I love you, Homura."

"I love you too."

Madoka smiles, standing behind Homura and wrapping her arms around her wife's midsection. A purple shield flickers to life in front of Homura, growing opaque as more power is poured into it. "You won't be the death of me," she whispers to the witch. "Twelve years of looping didn't stop me, and the twelve years after have only made me stronger. You are no Walpurgisnacht. You may have time magic, but you cannot match me. They are my friends, and y _ou will not harm them._ "

The light expands, engulfing the five women, and Homura Akemi smiles.

* * *

Mami opens her eyes, trying and failing to blink the dreariness away. _Where… where am I?_ she thinks to herself _Where are the others? What's going on?_ She sits up, putting a hand on the bed beside her for balance, but stops. What she feels is not the softness of the bed. Instead, she feels warmth.

She turns her head, and sees that has just planted her hand right on top of someone's face. She lets out a squeak, immediately removing her hand. "I'm so sorry!" she says. "I didn't hurt you, did I? And where… am... I…" she trails off, staring in horror at the face she had so recently used as support. It looks familiar. _Very_ familiar. The girl attached to the face sits up, rubbing at her eyes.

"Who are you?" says the girl, blond hair falling in waves over a brown nightgown. "How did you get here? And- oh."

Mami Tomoe, twenty-seven years of age and experienced in magical matters, looks on in shock as Mami Tomoe, fifteen years old and alone in the world, stares at the intruding adult who looks exactly like her.

When they scream, it is at the exact same pitch.

* * *

Sayaka Miki opens her mouth in a yawn, scrunching her eyes together and turning onto her other side. Well, she _tries_ , but is blocked by a pair of smooth legs. "Koko," she mutters, still have asleep. "Why're your feet in my face…" Hearing no response from the lump beside her, Sayaka instead resolves to push her off the bed. She raises her arms and legs, planting them on the lump when she realizes that something is wrong. The legs pressed against her face are smooth as a baby.

 _Kyoko only shaves her legs when I nag her to, and I didn't do that yesterday,_ she thinks. _Hey, wait a second! We were just fighting a with, what happened?_

She rolls out of the bed, landing on her hands and bouncing to her feet. She transforms in a flash of blue light, drawing a sword and pointing it at the person-shaped lump still in the bed.

"I've fought enough witches to know an illusion trap when I see one!" she says. "Who are you? Or are you just a familiar?"

The lump shifts, and a head of messy blue hair pushes its way into the light. "W-whas going on?" asks Sayaka Miki, fourteen years old and still very sleepy. "Who-" her eyes go wide. "You… you look like me," she says. "But you're older. And a cosplayer." Her eyes follow the sword, the tip now at her throat. "And you're pointing a sword at me."

"Alright," says Sayaka, twenty-six years old and wide awake. "This is _definitely_ an illusion trap."

Kyoko Sakura wakes up lying in puddle, leaning against a brick wall. She looks around blearily, and finds a dark alleyway where she normally finds a nice room. "What the fuck," she whispers. "Hey, what the fuck!" She jumps to her feet, heart racing as she surveys her surroundings. She's in a cobblestone alleyway, dark and wet and far too lacking in Sayaka for her tastes. But while it lacks Sayaka, it has plenty of garbage; dirty black bags litter the alley, some spilled around the bin and some thrown haphazardly.

 _Well, I won't waste my time here_ , she thinks. _Gotta find Sayaka and Homura and the other, and then-_

A sharp pain in her back stops that thought in its tracks. She stops in place, feeling a hot breath on her neck and hoping whoever it is doesn't press the blade into her back.

"Don't move," says the voice behind her, light and far too high-pitched to be male. "Turn around."

Normally, Kyoko wouldn't bother with such things, instead preferring to punch the poor mugger and be on her way. But something about this- the voice, the stink, the alley which seems _far_ too familiar- makes her decide to humor the person behind turns around, hands raised in the air, and looks down at her… well, certainly not _mugger_.

Kyoko never mugged anyone, after all, and the girl holding a spear to her throat looks _exactly_ like her. "Okay, what the fuck is this?" says Kyoko Sakura, fourteen years old and having just spent the night in the alleyway.

"Man, I wish I fucking knew."

* * *

Usually, Madoka Kaname woke up to the smell of breakfast being prepared. She could usually judge what Homura was making, based on the sounds, smells, and what they had for supper the last night, and would get up once the breakfast was almost ready. She had once tried getting up early to surprise Homura with breakfast, but she hadn't even left the bed before Homura was up as well.

All this to say, Madoka generally didn't wake up with a panicking teenager shaking her awake.

"Wat- whas happening! Whas going on?" she says, trying to blink the sleep out of her eyes.

"Who are you?" replies the girl, little more than a pink smudge to Madoka's eyes. "How did you get in my bed? Why do you look like my mom and I?"

Madoka sits up. She rubs her eyes, ignoring the startled squeak from the other girl. Madoka slaps herself of the cheek, and looks at the girl who woke her up. She looks almost exactly like Madoka did when she was fourteen.

"You- I, you're-" the young Madoka stumbles backward.

"You're _me_ ," says the older Madoka. "But younger. Wait- am I in the past?"

"Are you from the future?" squeaks the younger Madoka.

"I-I think I am." She gasps. "Quick, what's the date?"

"Um, it's, it's, it's the twentieth of August, 2010!"

The older Madoka sighs, tension fleeing her. "Oh thank God. Homura hasn't transferred in yet."

"H-Homura? Who's that?"

Madoka chuckles, falling onto her back and staring at the ceiling. "Homura… she's someone very important to me." She raises a hand in the air, staring at her wedding ring. "You know, she's also a… time traveler… _Oh no_."

She jumps out of bed, heading towards the window and summoning her soul gem "W-What?" says the young Madoka. "What do you mean?"

"If I woke up here, everyone else probably woke up in the past as well. And if Homura wakes up a few months before she transfers to Mitakihara middle school, away from any of us; no no no, this is _very bad_!"

She transforms, pink uniform replacing her regular clothes, and opens the window. "Wait a second!" Young Madoka says as the older Madoka hops onto the windowsill. "What just happened? Who are you? Who's Homura, how did you get here, and what on earth is going on!?"

Madoka pauses, staring at her younger self. _I have to find Homura,_ she thinks. _But if I abandon my younger self…_

"I guess I owe you an explanation," she says. "Meet me outside, around the corner on the path to school. I'll explain everything, but there's someone we _need_ to find. I'll be waiting. Hurry."

And with that, she hops out of her room, leaving Madoka Kaname staring at an empty window.

* * *

In a Tokyo hospital miles away from everyone she knows, Homura Akemi opens her eyes. For the first time in nearly ten years, she wakes up without Madoka by her side.


	2. Chapter 2

Mami Tomoe's screams echo through the apartment, as do those of Mami Tomoe. The older Mami scrambles backwards, falling off the bed and landing on the ground with a _thump_. She transforms in a flash of light, materializing a musket in her hand and rolling back onto one knee. "What's going on?" she says, pointing her musket at the person who looks just like her.

"I- I don't know," the younger Mami responds. "But you- you look like me? What's happening?"

"I- I don't quite know," says the older one. She takes a deep breath, racing heart beginning to slow down. "I'm going to lower my gun now. Don't do anything, okay?"

The younger Mami nods, and the older one lowers her musket. Keeping it materialized, she stands up and offers the younger Mami her hand.

"So," says the older Mami. "You're me."

"It does appear that way," says the younger one. "If you really are me- let me think for a second… What was my wish?"

"To connect to life. And one for you, if you don't mind; what did I want to be when I was a child?"

"An idol." A pause. "Well, it seems you- you really are me. Are you from the future?"

"Either that, or you're from the past. What's the date?"

"August, 2010. I would have to check for the day."

The older Mami shakes her head. "No, the day doesn't matter. Do you have anything planned for today?" The younger one shakes her head. "Then perhaps we should discuss this over breakfast, in a few minutes? I'm sure you have many questions, but we could both use a minute or two to think."

The younger one nods. "After you, then."

* * *

Kyoko Sakura places an egg sandwich on the table in front of her, sliding another one to the red-haired teen sitting on the other end of the table. The younger Kyoko doesn't even mutter a thank you before opening it up and taking a bite.

"It's good," she says. "So, now that I've got food, we have a _lot_ to talk about."

"We sure do," says the older Kyoko. "What do you want to know?"

"First off, something to prove you're actually me. What's my record for amount of plates at the all-you-can-eat place?"

"Nine. Wait, no- it'd be eight, for you."

The younger Kyoko smiles. "So I beat it, huh? Still, that's not enough. Tell me something that I haven't told _anyone_."

The older Kyoko scratches her forehead. "Something you never told anyone... I got one, though you may not like it."

"I'm a tough girl," says the younger Kyoko. "Hit me."

The older Kyoko sighs. "You, I, _we_ had a crush on Mami, but we didn't do anything; we worried she didn't reciprocate our feelings, so we kept quiet."

The younger Kyoko's eyes go wide. "I… fuck, you really are me. So tell me, me; what's my future like?"

"It gets better. A _lot_ better."

The younger Kyoko lets out a sort. "It gets better, huh? I just want to point out the irony of specifically _me_ being told that it gets better."

The older Kyoko joins her younger self in chuckling, finally unwrapping her sandwich. "Heh. But seriously, it only goes uphill from here; by this time next year you'll have a team, a best friend, a crush, and a place to stay. Two places, actually."

She takes a bite of her sandwich, and the younger Kyoko stares at her hand. "So, uh... that's a ring, right?"

"Mmhmm." She swallows. "You get married! Aww man, that really was the happiest day of my life."

The younger Kyoko takes another bite of her sandwich, transfixed by the ring on her older self's finger. "Cool. And the person I end up getting married to- they're cool, right?"

"Oh hell _yeah_ she's cool! She's nice, and loyal, and caring; she's a hero, in every sense of the word."

"A hero? Life isn't a fairytale, you know."

"Maybe not, but being with her sure as hell feels like one."

The younger Kyoko takes another bite of her dwindling sandwich, staring down at the table. They stay like that for a while, sitting in silence, before the younger Kyoko speaks up. "You know, it sounds like I go soft, in the future."

The older Kyoko shakes her head. "It's- it's complicated, and hella weird, but I wouldn't call it going _soft_ ; I'm still a total badass, but now I have friends. I have people who care about me, and it fucking _rocks_!"

"It rocks, huh." The younger Kyoko finishes off her sandwich, licking her lips. "So, what do we do now? I've got a long day of arcading ahead of me, but I suppose I can reschedule some bits."

"What to do?" The older Kyoko steeples her gingers, resting her hands on the tent it creates. "I guess the first thing we should do would be to find the others, assuming they're here as well. You got cash for a train ride?" The younger Kyoko shakes her head. "Well, shit. You know an ATM we could hit up?" A nod, this time. "Sweet. Now let's go steal some cash, and then I'll introduce you to my amazing wife."

"Aww man, I have _got_ to flirt with your wife's younger self. On a scale from one to ten, how embarrassed will she be?"

The older Kyoko gets out of her seat, finishing off her sandwich in one big bite. "It depends really; she may not even notice, which would be a zero, she may notice, which would be a seven, or my Sayaka may have told her that the two of us are married, which would make it a ten."

The younger Kyoko grins. "This is going to be _fun_."

* * *

Madoka Kaname taps her feet, impatiently waiting for her younger self to arrive; it cannot take her younger self this long to get dressed and tell her parents she's going out! As she looks up from checking her watch for the twentieth time, Madoka notices a pink-haired figure turn around the corner, dressed in a blouse and skirt combo and carrying a pink purse.

"Hey! Sorry I took so long, Papa heard the commotion I made and I had to convince him I was fine. So where are we going?"

"Tokyo," says the older Madoka, dressed in a t-shirt and skirt. She turns around, walking quickly and motioning for her younger self to follow. "That's where Homura should be, and it's where we need to go. But I remember you having questions, so ask away."

The younger Madoka blinks, hurrying to keep up. "Well, I mean- everything! Who's Homura, why do we need to find her, how did you time travel, and _what on earth did you do in my room_?"

"That's a lot of questions," says the older Madoka, not slowing down. "But long story short: I'm a magical girl, Homura is an amazing magical girl who I care about tremendously, and she's had an awful experience with time travel. Because of that, we need to find her before she assumes the worst and does something she'll regret."

"I-I, you're a, a magical girl?"

"I sure am," says Madoka. "One of five in the city. There's me, Homura, Kyoko, Mami, and Sayaka."

"S-Sayaka? Sayaka is a magical girl too? We should go get her, then!"

The older Madoka shakes her head. "We don't have time. Homura's probably awake by now, so we need to get to the hospital as soon as we can. We can find Sayaka later."

"But Sayaka's apartment is right over there!" says the younger Madoka, pointing to a location to their right. "It's right on the way to the train station, so we won't be going out of our way. And if we wait until later, who knows where they'll go? We should get them now, before they can go someplace else, and then they can help us find this Homura girl!"

Madoka stops, turning to face her younger self. "I- but if we take too long, and Homura- but... Okay. You're right, Sayaka will be helpful and it shouldn't take too long. But we need to be as quick as possible, okay? We're on the clock right now."

The younger Madoka nods. "I understand. I just hope Sayaka isn't in too much trouble…"

* * *

Sayaka Miki sits up on her bed, eyes fixed on the sword pressed to her throat. She would normally be more focused on the woman holding the sword, namely that said woman looked like an adult version of her, but it was amazing what having a blade to your throat does to a person's priorities. "Answer me," says the older Sayaka. "What's going on here?"

"I, I don't know!" says the younger Sayaka, sweat dripping down her face. "I, i just, I woke up, and you yelled and there was a light and now you're holding a sword to my throat!"

The older Sayaka narrows her eyes. "Really... well, the witch didn't have any memory powers- or maybe it _did_ and it used them, but that's a rabbit hole I'm not going down- so you probably don't have my memories. What a crappy trap."

"What, a, a trap? What are you talking about, what trap? You showed up in my _bedroom_ and put a _sword_ to my throat, what the hell are you talking about?"

"What's your name?" asks the older Sayaka.

"I'm Sayaka Miki."

"Bullshit. _I'm_ Sayaka, and I'm sure not a kid."

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about, but I know who I am!" The younger Sayaka takes a few seconds to look over the older girl, finally noticing how much the girl looks like her.

The younger Sayaka gulps. "L-look, whoever you are-"

"Sayaka. I told you already, _I'm_ Sayaka."

"Alright, Sayaka. Look, something weird is obviously going on, so would you please just put the sword away?"

"Oh please, like I'd put disarm myself right in front of what's probably a witch. But if it doesn't have any memory powers… You'd be about fourteen, right?" The younger Sayaka nods. "Then in that case, who's-"

A knock comes from the door. "Sayaka? Are you awake? It's me, Madoka!" The Sayakas stare at the door. "Hello? Sayaka?"

"What do I do?" hisses the younger one.

"Well, answer her!" whispers the older one. "But don't mention me!"

"Yeah, hi Madoka, I'm here," says the younger Sayaka. "What do you want?"

"Can I come in?"

The older Sayaka frantically shakes her head. "Umm, gimme a sec," says the younger one. Turning to the older Sayaka, she whispers "Okay, what now?"

"Well, now you have to talk to her. I don't know, maybe open the door just a bit?"

The younger Sayaka nods, and tries to get up, but is prevented by the sword at her throat.

"Soo, uh, are you gonna move that? Cause I'm not sure I can get up and hold a conversation with a sword to my neck."

"Oh right, that." The older Sayaka retracts the sword, lowering it to her side. "Alright, go do you. I think I've got an idea as to what's going on, so don't raise any alarms with Madoka."

"Or you'll stab me."

"I mean, maybe? Just a bit? Only a little?"

The younger Sayaka shakes her head and walks over to the door to the hallway. She opens it just a bit, sticking her head through the opening. "Hi Madoka," she says. "What's crackalackin?"

"Crackalackin?" the older Sayaka whispers under her breath. "I did not say- shit, I _did_ say crackalackin at that age. Kyoko can _not_ find out."

"Oh, nothing much," says Madoka. "I just wanted to check up on my best friend!" She looks over Sayaka's pajamas. "Say, did you just wake up?"

The younger Sayaka nods. "Yeah, maybe a minute ago."

"Nice," says Madoka. "And was it- eventful, waking up?"

The younger Sayaka narrows her eyes. "Eventful? Why would it be eventful?"

"W-Well, I mean, what if something happened when you woke up? Like you fell out of bed, or maybe a cat climbed in through your window!"

"A cat? Madoka, my window's closed and I don't have a balcony, not to mention I live on the fourth floor."

Madoka les out an awkward laugh and scratches the back of her head. "I mean yeah, of course a cat didn't magically appear in your room, right? Just like magic?"

Both of the Sayakas narrow their eyes, growing suspicious. "Actually, I think I might get what you mean," says the younger Sayaka. "Just like magic, right?"

Meanwhile, the older Sayaka tiptoes to the window and peers through. If her guess is right…

Just as she thought, the Madoka she knows is on the street below, sitting on a bench. "Gotcha," she whispers. Carefully opening the window, she hops on the sill and leaps down to the street, using magic to cushion her landing.

Madoka turns around, jumping slightly at the sudden appearance of her friend. "Sayaka!"

"Hi Madoka. Just to prove it's you, I need you to answer a question. When you cuddle, which one's the big spoon and which one's the little spoon?"

Madoka tilts her head. "Who- Umm, I'm the big spoon and Homura is the little spoon?"

"Alright, that's good." Sayaka steps forward, wrapping Madoka in a hug. "It's good to see you safe."

"You too, Sayaka." Sayaka pats Madoka on the shoulder and steps back, putting her hands on her hips.

"So, Madoka, do you know what's going on?"

"Well, aren't we in the past? Because of Homura's time travel, and we're with our past selves…"

"That makes sense. Past selves, yeah…"

Madoka raises an eyebrow. "Sayaka, what did you do?"

"I may or may not have, uhh, threatenedtokillmyyoungerself?"

Madoka stares at her, face blank. "Sayaka…"

"Yes?"

" _Why_?"

Sayaka blushes, kicking at the ground and looking away. "I thought it was a witch's trap! And young me was a familiar or something? I guess?"

"You really are hopeless without Kyoko. So, how are we getting back up? We can't just walk into the apartment, so…"

Sayaka rolls her shoulders. "Then I guess I have to get in the way I got out." She _leaps_ up, landing on the open windowsill and waving to Madoka, who rolls her eyes.

Meanwhile, the younger two have engaged in a frightening display of double-talk. "So your _not-cat_ ," says the younger Sayaka. "Does she scratch?"

"N-No? Does yours?"

"Well, she _didn't_ , though it looked like she would for a bit. But I managed to calm her down, so you don't have to worry. Yours didn't scratch, I assume?"

Madoka shakes her head. "No, not at all. Though she _did_ drag me all the way here."

The older Sayaka sighs, walking over and fully opening the door. "Okay," she says, ignoring the young Madoka's startled squeak. "You two can drop the spy talk now. I went outside and talked to Madoka- _my_ Madoka- and it turns out I was wrong about this."

The younger Sayaka stumbles forward, grabbing Madoka and turning to face her older self. "Are you going to stab me?"

"I'm not going to stab you."

"How do I know that?"

The older Sayaka rolls her eyes. "Because I'm you from the future. If I stab you, then I'd be stabbed as well."

"You're me from the future? What?"

The younger Madoka stares at them. "You two are really behind, aren't you?"

"I guess we are," says the elder Sayaka. "You two, meet Madoka and me outside. We'll talk more once we're all together."

The young two nod, and Sayaka once again hops out the window. "She seems nice," says Madoka.

"A _cat,_ Madoka? A _cat_?"

* * *

Madoka and Sayaka sit together on the economical seats of the intercity rain, looking at their laps. Across from them, Madoka and Sayaka sit and marvel at the sight of the (to them) old-school train. "It's so amazing how quickly technology progresses," says the older Madoka.

"Remind me again why we need to be doing this?" says the younger Sayaka. "Cause I think you _tried_ to explain it, but we were going too fast for me to really catch anything."

The older Sayaka sighs, and the older Madoka smiles at young Sayaka. "Well, it's kind of weird. But before we do that, what should we be calling each other?"

The young Sayaka shrugs. "I've just been calling myself Me, Madoka is Madoka, the older me is StabbyMcBitchFace, and you're old Madoka."

The Madokas sigh. "S-Sayaka," says the younger one. "I know that Sayaka- the older one, we really do need to come up with names- may have jumped to conclusions and threatened you, but-"

"But what, Madoka? She tried to _stab_ me!"

The older Sayaka rolls her eyes. "I didn't _try_ to stab you, I _threatened_ to stab you. And I'm sorry about that, by the way; I thought you were a witch's familiar or something."

The younger Sayaka crosses her arms. "Okay, _what_ are you talking about? You two _still_ haven't explained what's happening!"

The older two look at each other, and the older Madoka shrugs. "Alright," she says. "But first, we do need names. You can call me… Doka, how about, and my Sayaka can be… maybe Miki?"

Miki snorts. _Miki,_ she thinks. _I don't know if that was intentional, but it's a good thing the Fate series hasn't gotten popular yet. Me being Miki would drive young me nuts._

Sayaka sighs. "Fine, Doka and Miki it is. And Miki, what's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing," says Sayaka Sakura. "It's nothing."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the station, Kyoko and Kyoko step out of their train. "Well, we're here," says the older one. "Mitakihara, my team's home base. If we're going to find them, this is where we should look. I'm telling ya, mini-me, we'll find Sayaka and the others in no time."

Back on the train, Doka grabs the railing, jostled by the train's sudden movement. "Next stop, Tokyo," she says. "But now, onto the explanations. Sayaka, Madoka, please pay close attention." She shuffles around in her seat, getting comfortable and sitting up straight. "S-Miki and I are magical girls. We made a wish, and in return we fight against Witches, horrifying monsters that prey on humans. Miki and I, along with three other magical girls, work together to keep Mitakihara safe."

"Matical girls?" says Madoka.

"Fight witches?" says Sayaka.

"Yep," says Miki. "A creature called Kyubey offered us a contract, to fight witches in exchange for a Wish. It's a dangerous life, and compared to other magical girls we're very well-off."

"Huh," says Sayaka. "And this wish, it can be anything?"

 _"Anything within reason, Miss Miki."_ Kyubey hops down onto the seat beside the younger two. _"Unfortunately, you two lack the potential to become magical girls; based on your conversation it would appear that you both gain that potential in the future, but as of now I cannot help you."_

"What are you doing here, Kyubey?" says Miki

 _"I am investigating a disturbance,"_ it responds. _"I must ask, why are you so hostile? Do I wrong you at some point in the future? If so, I apologize."_

"Don't fuck with us. We know what you're up to, _Incubator_."

"Gross," says Sayaka. "So this bunney-cat thing is what grants wishes?"

"This is it," says Miki. "Meet Kyubey, aka the Incubator, aka furry Satan. It tricks young girls into getting themselves killed, and lies about the details of what's in the contract."

 _"That is a falsehood. I do not lie."_

"Oh no, you just don't mention all the horrifying things that will happen. Don't spew that bullshit at me, I know what a lie by omission is."

The Incubator tilts its head. _"Very well. I see that my presence is not appreciated, and I shall leave. Goodbye, Sayaka Miki and Madoka Kaname. I hope to see you soon."_ It hops off the seat, walks into the next car, and disappears.

"That was a thing," says Sayaka.

"I guess it was," says Madoka. "Doka, Miki, if you don't mind me asking, why do you hate Kyubey so much?"

"Cause he's a lying shitbag," says Miki. "He doesn't _care_ about people. He just views us all as cattle, to be slaughtered for his convenience. Kyubey's _evil_ , in every sense of the word."

"Kyubey… he's not human," says Doka. "He doesn't think like us, not at all. He doesn't have the same values, or the same morals as humans do."

"He- that sounds awful," says Madoka.

"I don't know," says Sayaka. "He didn't seem too bad."

Miki grimaces. "Sayaka, he kills- no, _harvests_ thousands of girls each year. He's responsible for the deaths of millions, maybe _billions_. He's a _monster_. He does little things to make you trust him, like acting cute and giving people use of telepathy, but if you come to rely on him he'll betray you and leave you to die."

Sayaka frowns, turning her gaze to Madoka.

"Look, Sayaka," says Miki. "I'm sorry I threatened you, I really am. I jumped to conclusions, and I should have thought things over before I acted. I'm sorry." Sayaka huffs. "But Sayaka, this is important. Kyubey is evil. I need you to trust me on _this_ if nothing else."

Madoka rubs Sayaka's shoulder. "Sayaka, I think Miki has a point. Kyubey… if what they're saying is right, he's _really bad_."

"Madoka, do you seriously trust these two? They show up out of nowhere, they do magic, and they say the guy giving magic _in exchange for wishes_ is actually evil!"

"Sayaka, they're not strangers, they're us from the future!"

"And how do we know that, huh? They look like us? And?" Sayaka turns to the two women sitting in front of her. "Miki, tell me something only I would know?"

Miki blinks. "Well, let me see... Ah, I got one! Sayaka, you have a crush on Kyousuke Kamijou!"

Sayaka laughs. "See, Madoka? What did I tell you?" She shakes her head. "Me having a crush on Kyousuke. Hah!"

Madoka laughs nervously, looking down at her feet. "Well, Sayaka, I mean- I'm not you, so I can't say for certain, but are you really sure you don't have a crush on Kyousuke?"

Sayaka blushes, face turning pink. "W-What? No, of course I don't have a crush on him, what are you talking about? Why would you think I have a crush on Kyousuke?"

"Just, you know, the way you talk and act around him, and how you get that look in your eyes whenever you talk about him or see him."

Sayaka sputters, waving her hands around frantically. "But, I- I don't- right? And Doka! Tell Madoka something only she knows!"

Doka giggles, covering her mouth with a hand. "Madoka, when Sayaka and Hitomi talk about music you get bored, don't you?"

"Well, not _bored_ really, I just don't have any interest in the conversation… so yeah, I guess I get bored."

Sayaka stomps her feet, hands on her head. "Okay okay, I get it! So you know things about us? So what?"

Madoka rubs her forehead. "Sayaka, I get it. You were afraid, and now you're angry. I can understand that. But Miki's not evil, she just made a mistake. She was hasty and made a snap judgement, and she was wrong. And now, you're…"

Sayaka narrows her eyes. "Madoka, I'm not being hasty and making a snap judgement. She nearly stabbed me, there's nothing hasty about it!"

"In my defense," says Miki. "I stab a _lot_ of things."

"That's not a good thing!"

"Sayaka…" Madoka stares at her best friend, eyes wide and pleading, and Sayaka sighs.

"Alright, fine. Miki, you're me from the future, not some evil weirdo dressing up as me." Sayaka rubs her forehead. "And.. since you screwed up our first meeting so badly, we might as well so it over again." Miki smiles, and Sayaka sticks out her hand. "I'm Sayaka Miki. I'm fourteen, and I'm a student at Mitakihara Middle School."

Miki takes Sayaka's hand in her own, and shakes Sayaka's hand. "It's nice to meet you, Sayaka. I'm Sayaka Sakura, I'm twenty-six-"

"Sakura!" says Sayaka, grabbing Miki's hand a staring at the wedding ring. "I'm Sakura? I'm _married_?"

Madoka squees and hugs Sayaka. "You get _married_! Oh Sayaka, that's great!"

Miki rubs the back of her head, chuckling nervously. "I mean, yeah, it's great, but are you _sure_ you want to hear about who you spend the rest of your life with?"

"Yes! Who is it? Who do I get married to?"

Miki slides her gaze over to Doka, a fake smile plastered on her face as she silently begs for help. _Doka, I can't tell Sayaka I'm married to a girl,_ she thinks, trying to convey that with her eyes. _I wouldn't have believed I like girls at that age, and if she doesn't believe I'm actually her- hell, I'm not sure she trusts me right now anyway!_

 _I know, it will be so cute when she meets young Kyoko,_

thinks Doka, because eye contact is not a good method of communication.

"W-well, Sayaka," says Miki. "I- I don't want to make it weird when you meet them, right?"

Sayaka sighs. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. And I have a family name to go off, so at least I know _something_." She sits back down in her seat, and Madoka pats her on the shoulder.

The four of them sit in silence for a bit before Sayaka speaks up. "So, uhh, Doka? Why are on this train, anyway?"

Doka chuckles? "Right. I was going to explain that, but then Kyubey appeared, and… yeah. We're heading to Tokyo to find Homura, one of the magical girls on the team with Miki and I."

"Homura, huh," says Sayaka. "Is she just the closest, or is there a reason we need to find her first?"

"Homura… I mentioned some of it to Madoka, but Homura's had a very traumatic experience with time travel. If she wakes up back in the hospital, away from any of us, I don't know _what_ she'll do."

"Time travel," says Sayaka. "And what do you mean, traumatic experience?"

Doka shakes her head. "I don't want to go into details, not without Homura here. But essentially… she's woken up in that hospital a _lot_ , and it was never a good sign for her. It would make sense for her to react badly. And Sayaka, Madoka? If we meet the Homura of right now, the one who's your age, please don't mention the time-travel? She hasn't experienced that, and…"

"I understand," says Madoka. "What's Homura like, anyway? Is she loud, nice, funny?"

Miki and Doka turn to each other, and laugh. "H-Homura? Loud?" says Miki. "Oh, that's great. Nah, Homura's pretty quiet, and she's a _total_ badass. Seriously, the girl is cool as hell."

Doka chuckles. "Homura… she can come off as cold, but she really cares about her friends. She's strong, and determined, and just _so_ amazing."

"So I should expect a teenage version of the Terminator?" says Sayaka.

"Actually, I don't know _what_ Homura was like at this age," says Doka. "I never met her before the- the time travel."

Madoka opens her mouth to say something, but a _ding_ interrupts her. "I think we're here," she says instead. "Tokyo, right?"

Doka nods, and the four of them go to find Homura.

* * *

"I think this is it," sas Doka. She double-checks the name plate, just to make sure it reads _Homura Akemi_ , and nods.

"Alright, Doka," says Miki. "Let's go get her."

Doka pushes the door open, heart racing, and peers inside. "Hello?" she says. "Homura?"

"Y-yes?" says a young girl lying on a hospital bed, long dark hair separated into two braids. "I-I'm Homura Akemi. Are y-are you doctors?" She stares at the four girls. "W-What's going on?" Doka looks around the room, but there's no one else there. There's another bed a few feet away from Homura, but it's empty.  
The only person in the room is the young Homura.


	3. Chapter 3

Doka, Miki, Madoka, and Sayaka stare at the pajama-clad young girl on the bed in front of them. Homura Akemi stares at the four girls who burst into her room.

"Hi, I'm Miki. Mind if we come in?"

"S-Sure," says Homura. The four girls shuffle into the room, all staring at the frail girl lying on the hospital bed. "Umm, Miki, right?" says Homura. "I'm Homura, b-but you know that already. W-What's happening?"

Doka slides forward, drawing Homura's attention to her. "Hi, I'm Doka. We're looking for a friend of mine, and we were wondering if you saw her." Homura smiles, but Doka can't help but notice how her shoulders deflate. "She's about my height, maybe a bit taller, with long black hair."

Homura shakes her head. "N-No, I haven't seen anyone today. I only woke up a m- a minute ago, and no one's been in my room. I-I'm sorry, but I don't, I mean, I'm not sure if I can help you."

Miki walks to the other bed, and Madoka steps forward to Homura's side. "That's okay, Homura. I'm Madoka, by the way. It's nice to meet you!"

"And I'm Sayaka."

Homura chuckles nervously, and Miki taps Doka on the shoulder. "Come check this out," she whispers, motioning towards the second bed. Miki lifts up the sheets. "Feel them," she says. Doka frowns, but feels them.

Her eyes widen. "They're damp," Doka says. She lifts them up to her face, and gives them a sniff "That's sweat. The sheets smell like sweat."

"Which means someone was probably in this bed," says Miki. "Someone who sweats in their sleep. Doka, does Homura still get the nightmares?"

"Almost never. It's been months, maybe even years, but- if she was all alone… yeah, I could see it. You think that's it?"

Miki nods. "Yeah, I think so. Homura… appeared in this bed, since there wouldn't be room for her in little Homura's tiny hospital bed, and had a nightmare or something similar. She wakes up in a sweat, and panics. You aren't there, she isn't in her bed, she doesn't know what's going on." Miki begins pacing, attempting to mimic her predictions of Homura's movements. "She runs to the door, but stops; she sees her younger self, and gets confused. Then… then she looks for a calendar!" Miki heads to the other end of the room, away from Homura. "She picks it up and sees that it's 2011. Then, she drops it in shock!" Miki squats down, and picks a calendar off the floor. "So now Homura realizes she's in the past. So what does she do next?"

"She goes to look for me," says Doka. "But on the way out-"

"She stops," finishes Miki. "She sees the young Homura."

"That makes her pause. Now she has _proof_ she's in the past, and she's not sure if she should go to find me."

"But we know she leaves before young Homura wakes up."

"So she didn't stay, but I can't imagine she would abandon her younger self." Doka scratches her forehead, brow furrowed. "So she left quickly, but she must have done _something_ for young Homura…"

Doka gasps, and slaps her knee. "That's it! Something quick, but helpful! She healed young Homura's heart!"

Miki and Doka share a high-five. "U-Um, what? W-What do you mean? Who healed my h-heart?"

Doka slowly turns, and sees the three youngins staring at her in either confusion or disappointment, depending on the person. "Oops," she says. "I, uh-you heard that?"

"You… you shouted it at the top of your lungs," says Sayaka.

"Oh..."

Miki clears her throat. "So, Homura. I guess we've got some explaining to do."

* * *

Mami Tomoe sets a plate in front of her older self, and sits down at the other side of the table. "So then, Mami," she says. "I have _many_ questions, if you are able to answer them."

"I'm sure you do," says the older Mami. "So then, ask away."

"First off; what should I call you? It feels weird, calling you by my name, and it is a tad confusing."

The older Mami chuckles. "Yes, I guess that should be addressed. You can call me Tomoe, then; do you mind if I call you Mami?"

Mami shakes her head. "No. That's fine Miss Tomoe. You're from the future, right?"

Tomoe nods. "Yes, it does seem that way."

"Then how on earth did you arrive in the past? I apologize if you don't know, but-"

"No, it's fine. I can't be sure, of course, but I'm pretty sure I know what happened; the witch's magic reacted with Homura's time magic and we got sent back."

Mami blinks. "H-Homura? Time magic?"

"Hehe… perhaps I should explain." Tomoe clears her throat. "I'm part of a team of magical girls. There's five of us, and one of them- Homura Akemi- has time magic. We were just fighting a clock-based witch, and Homura shielded us all from its final attack. The logical assumption- especially given that Homura's time magic had previously reacted oddly to the witch's own magic- is that Homura's magic malfunctioned, and we were all sent back in time."

Mami nods slowly. "That… that seems like a reasonable explanation." She pauses. "And you said you-you were part of a team?"

"I am." She pauses, and Mami motions for her to continue. "There's five of us; Madoka, Homura, Sayaka, Kyoko, and myself. We-"

"Kyoko? As in Kyoko S-Sakura?"

Tomoe frowns. "Yes, why would that- oh right. The two of you haven't- oh dear."

Mami begins to shake, shoulders trembling. "I-I'm sorry," she says, forcing a smile. "It's just-"

"I understand," says Tomoe, She leans across the table and takes one of Mami's hands in her own. "I… I forgot how lonely I was, before I met the others. I know Kyoko is… someone you care about."

Mami shakes her head. "N-no, it's, I just-" she takes a shaky breath. "It's just a shock, that's all."

Tomoe's mouth curves downward in a frown. "Mami… I know how much Kyoko meant to you. I know I dug open an old wound, but _please_ , don't hide your feelings." She pauses. "When I… when I met Kyoko again, I was just as confused and emotional as you probably are right now. Maybe more, in fact; I actually had to _see_ her."

Mami swallows audibly, staring at the hand resting on hers. "You… I'm just, it's a shock, hearing about her after so long. We… we work together?"

Tomoe nods. "Yes, we do. We're… we're good friends now, in the future."

"If you don't mind me asking… how did you…"

"How did we get back together?" Mami nods. "That's… that's a very long story, and not all of it is mine to tell."

"Oh, that- that's fine." Mami lowers her gaze.

Tomoe keeps hers locked on the girl in front of her, and shakes her head. "No. You- this is important to you, I know. Just- could I have a minute or two to think about what to say? And in the meantime, we can have some of these delicious pancakes."

Mami nods. "That sounds… good."

* * *

"M-Magical girls," says Homura. "The f-five of you are m-magical girls."

Doka and Miki nod, but Doka stops halfway through. "Err- only Miki and me," she corrects.

"And you're from the f-future," says Homura.

"The two of us, yes."

"And you're looking for m-me from the future."

"Exactly!"

Homura sighs, and shakes her head. "L-Look, I- … I know when something sounds too good to be true. I mean, magical girls from the future, come to look for me? That's just…"

"But it's true!" says Madoka. She steps forward and takes Homura's hands in her own, ignoring the surprised 'eep!' That comes from Homura's mouth. "They're from the future, and I've _seen_ them do magic! I know it's hard to believe, but you have to trust us!"

Homura blinks. She opens her mouth to respond, but Doka cuts her off before she can start. "No, you don't have to _trust_ that we're telling the truth," she says. "We can prove it!" With a flash of pink light, she transforms into her magical girl outfit. Homura stares at her in awe, and Doka smiles at the younger girl's shocked expression. She lifts up her hand, palm raised, and a pink light forms in her palm.

"What, I-what is that?" says Homura, gaze fixed on the pink shape.

"It's my magic," says Doka. "Or at least something I can do with it." The pink shape elongates, becoming thinner and thinner as it stretches out until it's the length of her hand. Then it thins even more, mass coalescing at the front tip, and the light dims. Resting on Doka's hand is a white rose. She offers it to Homura with a smile, pink eyes fixed on the younger girl. "It's for you," she says.

Homura blinks. "F-for me? I- I can't-"

Doka, still smiling, presses the flower into Homura's hands. "Please," she says. "Take it."

Homura nods mutely, and Doka retracts her hands. Homura stares at the rose clenched in her hands, and swallows audibly. "So then," says Doka. "Now that that's behind us, how should we go about finding my Homura? Homura- err, yes you, the one right here- can you walk?"

"Y-Yes?" says Homura. "I, I think, I can, but n-not for long."

"That's okay," says Doka.

Miki frowns and taps Doka on the shoulder. "Sorry, to interrupt," she says. "But could I talk to you? And, uh, you two as well, Madoka and Sayaka." Doka blinks, but nods her head, and the four of them form a circle away from Homura.

"So, I just wanted to ask," Miki says once they're together. "What are we gonna do with Homura?"

"We should take her with us," says Doka. "What else could we do?"

"But she'll slow us down," replies Miki. "Homura could be _anywhere_ by now, can we really afford to take the younger one with us?"

Doka shakes her head. "Miki, we don't know where Homura is; like you said, she could be anywhere. We don't _know_ where to go, so is going a bit slower really such a bad thing? If we- if we leave Homura here, she'll think-' Doka stops. "We can't do that to her. Our Homura is probably panicking right now, I know, but-"

"I get it," says Miki. "You don't want to leave the young Homura, and you don't think she'll be enough of a burden that leaving her would be worth it." Miki sighs, and pats Doka on the shoulder. "And what about you two?" she says, turning her gaze to Madoka and Sayaka.

"I- I think Doka's right," says Madoka. "I-I don't know what Homura's like in the future, but I don't really feel comfortable leaving this Homura alone."

Sayaka nods. "Madoka's right. The way you described her, I thought we'd be meeting a total badass, not some perpetually kicked puppy. No _way_ can we just leave her!"

Miki nods. "It's decided, then. We'll take her with us and then head to Mitakihara; the older Homura's probably looking for Doka, so my guess is she's in Mitakihara." Miki frowns. "Or maybe she isn't? She has Walpurgisnacht's grief seed, which means she's basically got infinite magic, and she definitely timestopped over to Madoka's house; she could be anywhere!"

"Well, let's take little Homura and get going," says Madoka. "I can't think of anywhere else she'd be, so we might as well hang around Mitakihara and try to find the others."

With a nod, the group disperses, and they all head back to Homura's bed. "S-So what's g-going on?" asks the girl herself, nervously fiddling with her braids.

"Well, we still need to find the future you," says Miki. "We're going to head back to Mitakihara, to see if we can find her or anyone else."

"O-Oh," says Homura, expression drooping. Her gaze falls down to her lap, and any trace of happiness leaves her face. "O-Okay. I-I under-"

"You're coming with us!" interrupts Madoka. "I-I mean, if you want to, of course."

"I do!" says Homura, reinvigorated. "I-If you want me to come, th-then I would lo-love to go!" She pauses, and her expression of happiness begins to fade. "B-But, if-"

"So you want to come?" says Doka. Homura nods hesitantly, but grows more confident when Doka smiles at her. "S-So what do we do?"

"Well, first order of business will be getting out of the hospital," says Miki. "Do you have clothes that aren't pajamas or hospital stuff?"

Homura nods her head. "Yes, I, um, I do."

"Good," says Miki. "Are they in the room, or…"

"I can ask one of the nurses to, to bring them to me."

"That's good."

Miki nods, and Madoka steps in. "Umm, Homura, you, umm, earlier you said you could only walk for a bit?"

"Y-Yes," replies Homura. "M-My heart, it can't- I can walk, but m-my-" She stops, and takes a deep breath. "I get tired too quickly to walk to places. The doctors say it should get better after the surgery, but for now…"

"I understand," says Miki. "Do you have a wheelchair or something? Anything that you could use to move that wouldn't tire you out?"

"Y-Yes, I can ask for a wheelchair." Homura slips out of the sheets and lets her feet fall to the floor. She stands up, keeping a hand on the bed's headboard for stability, but her knees still quiver.

Madoka slips an arm under Homura's, providing the frail girl with some much-needed support. "I've got you," says Madoka, directing a radiant smile toward Homura. Homura smiles back, expression shaky in comparison to Madoka's. After a few steps, Madoka lets go, and Homura continues on her own.

"Well, since that's taken care of," says Sayaka. "Let's go find Homura!" Homura stares at her. "Okay, yeah, we're going to need a new name. Maybe call the older one The Homu? Old Homu? Big Homu? Or maybe just Homu…"

* * *

"So I did some thinking," says Tomoe, wiping her mouth and resting her cutlery on the table. "You wanted to know what, happened, and you deserve an explanation, so I'll explain it."

Mami nods, and Tomoe takes a deep breath. "To make a long story short… about twelve years ago- in a few months for you- Walpurgisnacht came to Mitakihara. Homura, one of the magical girls I now work with, enlisted Kyoko's help in defending the city and stopping Walpurgisnacht. Kyoko and I were forced to work together, and afterward…" A small smile finds its way to Tomoe's face. "Afterwards, we worked things out, and Kyoko decided to stay in Mitakihara."

"What do you mean, 'worked things out'?" says Mami. "How could… there was nothing _to_ work out. Kyoko didn't c-care about me the way I cared about h-her, and I had to accept that. I had put her on a pedestal, and when I was forced to accept that she wasn't the person I expected her to be…"

Tomoe shakes her head. "Mami, you're not entirely correct."

"W-What do you mean?"

"Well… really, you should be having this talk with Kyoko. The two of you should be working things out and communicating, instead of me telling you these things."

"T-Talk to Kyoko? A-Are we going to see her? I, I can't-"

"Please, Mami. The others probably came back to the past with me, and Kyoko will almost certainly come to find us soon enough. Do you think you can do that, talk to Kyoko?"

Mami sniffs, but nods her head. "I- if you think that's what's best…"

Tomoe smiles and stands up. She leans over the table, wrapping her arms around Mami's shoulders and pressing the younger girl's face into her shoulder. "Thank you," she says. "I know it hurts, but if you let the pain paralyze you the wound will never heal." Tomoe pats Mami on the back, and sits back down in her seat. "Oh," she says. "It seems I got some syrup on my clothes…"

"I'm so sorry!" says Mami.

"Don't be, it wasn't your fault. Now, I don't have a change of clothes, but I can wear my magical girl outfit while this blouse soaks. Homura has some spare clothes in her shield, so once we meet up with her-"

She pauses, watching as Mami begins to giggle. "I-I'm sorry," says Mami, still giggling. "But- in her shield?"

Tomoe smiles warmly, glad that something improved Mami's mood. "Yes, in her shield. It's like- are you familiar with the term hammerspace?"

"I suppose that makes sense," says Mami. She clears her throat and adjusts her posture, but after a beat she breaks back down into giggles."I'm sorry, but it was so serious, and then-"

"Yes, I suppose that might make for some amusing imagery. Now, back to the delicious pan-"

The ring of a doorbell cuts her off, and the two of them turn their heads towards the door. "Do you think that's K-Kyoko?" says Mami.

"Most likely," responds Tomoe, frowning. "Do you want me to check?" Mami nods. Tomoe rises to her feet, quietly walking over to the door, and peeks through the peep-hole.

Standing on the other side of the door are the Kyokos. The older one is tapping her feet, looking around as she waits for the door to open, while the younger one seems to be frozen in place, staring blankly at the door in front of her.

"It's the two Kyokos," whispers Tomoe. She gazes at Mami's face which, while not by any means tear-stained, is still a bit red around the eyes. "Do you want to get washed up? I can distract them until you're ready, if you want."

Mami nods. "Y-Yes, please do." She stands up and heads to the bathroom, and Tomoe opens the door once she's gone.

"Hello, Kyoko," she says. "I was wondering when you two would show up."

"Heya, Mams," says the older Kyoko. "Can we come in?"

Tomoe smiles and steps out of her way, and the two Kyokos walk into the apartment. "Is Mami here?" asks the younger one, looking around at the familiar room.

"She is," says Tomoe. "She just needs a bit of time to wash up." Closing the door, she turns to face the two girls, one calm and one on edge. "Now, I believe we have some _talking_ to do."

* * *

Madoka pushes Homura's wheelchair through the automatic doors, the other three following behind her. Homura squints, raising a hand to cover her eyes from the harsh glare of the sun. "I f-forgot how _bright_ it is," she says. "M-Madoka, you're really fine with carting me a-umm, around?"

"Of course!" says Madoka. "It's no problem, really!"

"Th-Thank you," says Homura.

"Now, are we heading to Mitakihara?" says Sayaka. "That's where you said Homu probably is, right?"

"Probably," says Doka. "But we have no way to contact her, so…"

"No way?" says Homura. "Can't you, umm, c-call her?"

Doka shakes her head. "I thought about that, but it didn't work." She takes out her phone, showing everyone the 'no connection' displayed on the screen. "The only way to get cell reception in this time period is via cell towers, but my phone can't connect to them and Miki's is the same kind as mine. The people who made them took the feature out because they thought it was obsolete and redundant."

Miki snorts. "That shows us, keeping up with the technological curve."

"Hold on a second," says Sayaka. "You don't use cell towers? What _do_ you use, then?"

"It's- it's weird, and really complicated," says Miki. "Homu said it was probably someone's wish- cell reception everywhere, I guess- but I don't really know how it works. Long story short, no cell phones in our time period can connect to cell towers. Well, knowing our Homu, she probably has a phone that could work in this time period, though that's useless if we don't have anything to call her on."

Sayaka blinks. "Madoka and I have phones. Why not use ours?"

"Right!" says Miki, grinning and raising her hand in front of her, palm facing upward. "Alright, pass'er over and we'll call her right away!"

Sayaka ruffles through her shorts, and Madoka opens her purse. "Crap, I left mine at home," says Sayaka, slapping her forehead. "But as long as we have Madoka's, we're still good!"

Sayaka pauses. She turns to look at Madoka, and their gazes meet. "You forgot your phone too, didn't you."

Madoka nods.

Miki lets her face fall into her hands, and Doka pats her on the back. "I- Homura, do _you_ have a phone?"

Homura shakes her head. "N-No, I never saw the, the need for one. I'm sorry..."

"It's not your fault," says Sayaka. "But now we have a way to contact Homu; we just need to head back home and get our phones and we can call her ASAP."

"U-Umm, excuse me?" says Homura. "W-When you were explaining m-magic, you mentioned telepathy? Why not use that?"

"You're right!" exclaims Doka. "We can telepathy Homu once we're in the city! I completely forgot about telepathy!"

Madoka, Sayaka, and Homura stare at her. "How… how do you forget about _telepathy_?" says Sayaka, indignant. "That's like forgetting you can _fly_!"

"W-Well, it's been years since we used it!" says Doka. "We didn't want to rely on Kyubey for anything, so Homu made sure we all had ways to contact each other at any time with state-of-the-art cell phones. But I guess they were _too_ state-of-the-art, heh… Yeah, forgetting telepathy is on me."

"It's on me too," says Miki. "And Homu, actually, seeing as how she hasn't tried to contact us."

"Well, we know now," says Doka. "Alright, let's do this!" Her face scrunches up in concentration, and there are a few seconds of silence as everyone stares at her.

"D-Did it work?" says Homura.

"Nothing's happening," says Doka. "I can't... "

" _That would be because I am not connecting you."_

Kyubey walks out from some nearby shrubbery and Doka growls, a low noise coming from the base of her throat. "Incubator… Why am I not surprised?"

" _I assume that would be because you have observed my actions in the past, and you see this as an action I would logically take."_

"Well, I mean, yes? Technically?" Doka shakes her head and slaps her cheeks. "No, back on track! Why won't you connect me to Homu?"

" _Oh, you wish to form a telepathic connection with Homura Akemi? Very well, if you wish."_

Madoka blinks. " _H-Homura?"_ she thinks. " _Is that you, dear? Can you hear me?"_

Sitting in her wheelchair, Homura lets out a faint gasp. " _D-Doka? I can- I can hear you in my head! Is this telepathy?"_

Doka frowns and turns to Homura. "Homura, did you just-"

"Kyubey c-connected you to _me_ , didn't he?" says Homura.

"Yes, he did." Doka sighs, and reaches down to grab Kyubey by the throat. "Why didn't you connect us?" she says, lifting him up to her face.

" _But I did connect you,"_ he says. " _I formed a telepathic connection between you and Homura Akemi, just as you requested."_

"You _know_ what I meant," says Doka, growing angrier. "Why didn't you connect me to the older Homura, _my_ Homura?"

Kyubey tilts his head, at least as much as he can while being held by Doka. " _I see no reason why I should go out of my way to help you, given how you have treated me thus-"_

"Oh, fuck _off_!" says Miki. "You don't feel _emotions_ , we already know that, so you can drop the act! You're just trying to screw us over, aren't you?"

" _You are obviously not listening to a thing I'm saying. If you would please release me, I will leave you be."_

Doka snarls, and her grip tightens. "Just connect us, damn you!"

" _I will not."_

Two pairs of pink eyes meet, one pair filled with emotion and the other lacking any hint of feeling. Sighing, Doka releases her grip. "Fine. We don't need you! We'll just head to Mitakihara and get a phone, and then we'll be good to go!" She stomps off in direction of the train station, and the others follow behind her.

"Well, I guess we're back on the train," says Madoka, smiling down at Homura. "Here's hoping it's the last time!"


	4. Chapter 4

"So what's up?" says the elder Kyoko, sitting at the glass table and munching on some leftover pancakes. Beside her sits the younger Kyoko, staring at her plate but not eating.

"Oh, not much," says Tomoe. "Did the meeting between you two go well?"

"For a given definition of well," says the older Kyoko. "Mini-me over here tried to stab me!"

"In her defense, you _are_ very stabbable," Tomoe teases. "But before anything else: what should I call you? You can't both be Kyoko, of course."

The older Kyoko shrugs. "I'm fine with going by Sakura. That fine by you, Little-Koko?"

Kyoko nods, though the glare she sends Tomoe convinces the older girl to never use that nickname. "Yeah, that's fine by me."

Tomoe smiles. "Good." She glances towards the bathroom door. "Ky- Sakura, I have a question. Why did you come _here_ first?"

Sakura chuckles nervously, looking down and rubbing the back of her head. "Well, you see, I _tried_ to find Sayaka first, but I sort of, uhh-"

"You forgot where your wife's childhood home was," finishes Tomoe.

Sakura sighs, shoulders drooping in an exaggerated manner. "Yeah, I forgot where Sayaka lived." She points an accusatory finger at Kyoko. "And mini-me over here got all judgey, too!"

Tomoe smiles. She reaches towards Kyoko, but the younger girl leans back. "Oh! R-Right, sorry," says Tomoe, retracting her hand. "I-" she pauses, and turns to look at Sakura. "Sakura, could the two of us talk? Alone?"

Kyoko stands up. "Yeah, I can get out of your hair if you've got shit to talk about. Yell for me once you're done." Kyoko leaves, and it's with a touch of pride that Sakura notes she's heading towards the kitchen.

"So then," says Sakura. "What did'ya want to talk about?"

In lieu of an answer, Tomoe takes a long sip of tea, eyes darting towards the redhead's counterpart's back. Only once they can hear the fridge door open does she answer in hushed tones. "I think we should do something about..." she nods meaningfully towards their younger selves' whereabouts.

Sakura grimaces. "What do ya mean, exactly?"

The blonde sets down her cup. "You remember how we were back then. How they are. They _care_ about each other, but..."

Sakura nods solemnly. "Yeah, I know. Mini-me and Mini-you ain't gonna get along, are they?"

"Maybe," Tomoe's honey-gold eyes bore into Sakura's, "we could give them a push?" She frowns, eyes dropping to scrutinize the tabletop.. "It's not the most elegant of solutions..."

Sakura snorts and picks up a scone. "Shoving two hurting girls together into a room 'til they make up is like, the opposite of elegant."

Tomoe shrugs. "It worked for us before, it should work for 'us' again?" she finishes, a hopeful bell in her voice.

Sakura slowly munches on her scone. "I'm not so sure about that," she bites out.

"W-why not?"

Sakura rubs her forehead, resting her head on her hands. "I'm… not really sure. I can't place it, but it feels wrong." She sighs, letting her head fall to the table with a thunk. "My memory's kinds faded, but I remember genuinely thinking you would be better off without me. I think if just shove them together, mini-me will just push Mami away… I don't know, it's just-"

Sakura stops, and Tomoe leans forward to pat her on the shoulder. "I get it, I really do, but... that's why we're locking them together," she says with a dubious smile, "we drifted apart by our own choices."

"So let's not give them that choice," Sakura sighs. "We're both pieces of work, aren't we? Let's just do it," she cuts in before Mami can answer, "before I change my mind."

Tomoe offers Sakura a reassuring smile as they get up, and they head towards their respective younger selves.

* * *

Homura Akemi fidgets. She's barely aware of the vertigo as the Tokyo-Mitakihara smoothly speeds on, choosing to work over her shock instead. Shock at this whole... 'Magical Girls From The Future' thing. About herself, supposedly, somehow, all grown up and having her own life, her own friends?

"S-So, Do- Doka," she stammers. "M-My older self, from the... future, who is or...would be me I…" she gathers herself, starting over. "The me from the future, what am I, what is she like?"

She immediately wilters as her four companions turn to her, losing all signs of built up courage.

"What are _you_ like?" Doka rubs her chin, looking up in thought. "Well, you're really… I'm not sure what the word would be. Tough? Strong?" She purses her lip, before a warm smile spreads across her face, "It's like no matter what the world throws at you, you can take it without breaking stride. You're not that good with people, but with the four of us, you're a really great friend."

Heat rises up Homura's cheeks at Madoka's wistful tone and she shrinks in her seat, unable to hold Madoka's gaze. "I, I'm… th-thank you, b-but that doesn't really sound, umm, sound like... me."

"Don't sell yourself short," Miki smiles encouragingly. "You're a bit more open now, I'd say. Less closed off, less quiet and more stammery, but you're still our Homura."

"Y-Your…" Homura trails off, face bright red. She smiles, faintly, but even that subtle turn of her lips makes her look so much brighter than her own usual, depressed, fidgeting self. She takes in their words, sitting straighter for a moment. "S-So, future me," the words almost barrel out of her mouth in a rush, "how am I able to fight, y-you know, considering my heart?"

Doka scrunches up her forehead, taken aback. "Uh, you know, it's been so long? I kind of forget about it?" she bites back a sudden giggle - _wehihi_ \- before snapping her fingers, "She used to enchant her heart at first, make it work like normal, wasn't too difficult thanks to her wish."

Miki smiles knowingly. "Yeah, at _first_ … but then she healed her heart for good."

"For good?" Madoka's eyes go wide. "You mean-"

"Yup." Miki smirks, motioning for the younger girls to lean forward. "Listen, oh young ones, and let me tell you the story of how Homura got her heart healed and freaked everyone out in the process."

Madoka and Sayaka stare, perplexed. Homura pale a bit. Regardless, they lean forward as the older Miki beings her story.

"So, after we fought Walpurgisnacht- a _super_ tough witch that our Homura had been trying to kill for ages - the five of us decided to team up and work together instead of being weird and fighting each other. Now, I'm not sure if I explained this yet, but magical girls get magical powers related to their wish: I wished to heal Kyousuke, so I got healing powers."

"I see," her younger counterparts nods. "So you used your magic to heal Homura's heart."

Homura frowns, wrangling her hands in her lap.

Miki's eyes dart to her, before smiling at her younger self. "No, I didn't just heal her heart," she explains. "I couldn't."

"B-Because it was a, a growth defect." Homura deflates, as if she'd already know it couldn't have been that easy.

Miki nods. "Yup. Homura's heart just grew weirdly, it wasn't injured. I couldn't just heal it. But see, our Homura could have kept her enchantment working pretty much forever, thanks to Walpurgisnacht's grief seed, but Doka _really_ wanted Homura to actually heal her heart and not constantly be on magic life support."

Doka shrugs, a barely-noticeable blush on her cheeks. "W-Well, I mean, what if something went wrong?" she says.

"So," continues Miki. "Doka was being a worrywart, bad enough she convinced Homura to try and fix it. So Homura, being Homura, decides that the obvious course of action is for me to grow her a new heart."

Miki pauses, awaiting the reactions of her young audience. "W-Wait?" asks Madoka. "You can do that?!""

"But," Sayaka cuts in, "what about her real- her old-"

"So you can _imagine_ what I felt when out of the blue, Homura asks:" she suddenly sits up random straight and makes a gruff voice, " _Could you cut out my heart?_ " Miki makes a completely un-Homu-esque cutting motion over her chest, symbolizing said action while watching her audience's perturbed stares.

She breaks into giggles right about when the elder Madoka buries her face in her hands.

"Y-yeah," Miki struggles to regain her breath, "she sort of forgot to mention the whole 'growing it back' thing until I freaked the heck out. Fuuuuun tiiiiimes…"

"S-So what did you end up doing?" asks Homura.

Miki shrugs. "Well, I cut her heart out and grew her a new one."

The younger girls stare at her, eyes wide. "Y-You, you actually…" Madoka trails off.

"Well, she disabled her pain receptors and everything, so it wasn't _that_ bad," Miki rubs the back of her head. "Though yeah, I can see why you're a biiiit freaked out."

"Y-Yeah, it's, um, a bit disturbing?" says Homura. "But, umm, s-sorry if I'm being a bother, but, is there a, a way to h-heal my heart without the, you know, cutting it out?" her voice trails off into a whisper.

"I don't...know?" Miki's smile falters. "I can't really help there, as I've said... Doka?"

Doka deflates as well.. "I don't think there is. I'm sorry, Homura."

Homura's eyes trail down to her lap. "Th-that's fine," she _tries_ to sound normal, "I f-figured... it's OK..." she tapers off, failing miserably.

An awkward silence follows, everyone trying to not quite look at each other, desperately pretending Homura's hopes weren't just raised and crushed mercilessly.

Eventually, the younger Sayaka breaks the silence. "You know, Doka, you really seem to _care_ about your Homura." She leans forward, a familiar, playful smirk on her lips. "Don't tell me I get replaced!" she gasps dramatically.

Miki smiles knowingly. "Don't worry, runt," she says. "Madoka's still my bestie."

"Oh?" Sayaka tilts her head, trading a knowing look with her older self. "But Doka and her Homura seem _so_ close…." She turns her head just slightly, enough that she can see Madoka's face. Her smile widens, growing from joking to maniacal. "What is she then Doka? Is she, perhaps… your _girlfriend_?"

Madoka sputters, eyes bulging out of her head, and Miki snorts. Homura stares at Sayaka, face growing red. Doka opens her mouth to respond, but is interrupted by Homura's nervous laughter.

"W-Well, I m-mean, umm, of course not!" says the stuttering girl. "M-M-Madoka and m-me, to, together? That's, that's… that's…"

"Homura? My girlfriend?" Doka laughs. "No way!" she waves her hand, as if brushing off the very thought of it.

"Y-Yeah…" Homura laughs, but it's obviously forced. "N-No way, haha, yeah, of, of course…" Homura's tiny voice tapers off into unintelligible mumbling, her gaze dropping back down as her shoulders shook almost imperceptibly.

"Of _course_ Homura can't be my _girlfriend_!" continues Doka, smiling. "She's my _wife_!"

Silence reigns as the three younger girls stare at Doka in shock. Madoka's mouth is wide open, shaped like an O, with some weird mix between a whine and a quiet scream making its way out of her mouth. Homura, meanwhile, is in shock, her face growing pale as she stares at Doka with a blank expression.

Sayaka whips her head around back and forth, as if looking at the younger and older versions of Madoka and Homura in a new light.

Madoka _tries_ to make some sort of motion with her hands, but just ends up flailing them around as she very pointedly tries not to look at Homura. "I, I, I'm not- well, I don't k- ehhh..."

A warm smile blossoms on Sayaka's face, and she pulls Madoka into a tight hug. "You get married! You have a wife! Oh, I'm so happy for you!"

Madoka tenses, then begin to relax as Sayaka's words sink in. "You, you are? W-Well yeah, of course you are, it's just-"

Sayaka smiles and pats Madoka on the shoulder. "It's fine, Madoka." She turns to Homura and her smile falters. "Though, I'm not sure Homura's fine. You okay?"

Homura doesn't respond, too busy staring blankly at the wall. "I think we broke her," Sayaka says. Doka frowns, and reaches forward to poke Homura's cheek. "Homura, are you-"

"Idon'thaveacrushonMadokathatwouldbeweirdImeanwe'rebothgirlsandIjustmether!"

The others blink, taken aback by whatever Homura just said in her outburst. They aren't sure, to be honest.

Doka puts her hand on Homura's shoulder. "Homura, are you-"

"AndI'mnotsayingthatyou'relyingbutI'mnotcoolsomaybeyouhavethewrongHomuraorsomethingcause-"

"Homura!" Doka tightens her grip on Homura's shoulders, staring the younger girl in the eyes. "Take a deep breath, Homura. In, out."

Doka demonstrates, taking a deep breath in and holding it for a few seconds before exhaling; Homura follows her example, though the nervous girl's breaths are much faster.

This continues for a few more seconds, and Homura's breathing begins to slow. "Th-Thank you," she says. "I, I'm sorry, about, that I-"

Doka chuckles, patting Homura on the head. "It's completely fine," she says, beaming at Homura.

Homura's only response is to blush and go 'eep'. Luckily for Homura, the train's speakers crackle to life. " _Current stop, Mitakihara Station._ "

"That's us," Miki says. They all rise from their seats, though Madoka and Doka shoot Homura a confused glance when she stands up. "Aren't you using the wheelchair?" Madoka asks. "Y-You know, so you don't get tired and collapse or something?"

"Errr… well, I didn't-" Homura stops, and slowly sinks back down into her seat. "O-Okay…"

Doka smiles, ruffling Homura's hair before grabbing the back of her wheelchair and leading the group off the train and onto the terminal.

"So, now that we're back in Mitakihara," Miki says. "We should split up."

"Split up?" Doka echoes, hesitant. The ' _again_ ' remains silent. "That… well, why?"

"Well, having the bunch of us all together won't help us find Homura any faster," Miki explains. "And there's still two other teammates to look for."

Doka nods slowly. "Mami and Kyoko… you think you can find them?"

Miki nods. "Yeah, since Kyoko obviously couldn't find us while we were away, she's probably with Mami by now."

Doka nods, convinced. "And once you find them, you can meet up with the rest of us, Homura hopefully included."

"W-Wait," says Madoka. "How would you contact us? I thought your phones didn't work, and Kyubey wouldn't let you use telepathy?"

Miki smirks. "True, but you and Sayaka have phones that work perfectly fine. If one of you comes with me-" she not-so-subtly looks at Sayaka. "Then we can stay in touch easy-peasy."

Sayaka narrows her eyes. "What, you just want me to leave Madoka?"

Miki shrugs. "If you want to stay with Madoka, that's fine. But I _do_ need a phone, be it yours or Madoka's."

Madoka tugs on her friend's sleeve. "Sayaka, I do sort of think it would be good if you went. If you and Miki had some time alone to talk."

"Madoka's right," Miki says. "Plus, can you honestly say you won't want to meet the other two girls?"

Sayaka takes turns glancing at Madoka and Miki, her brow furrowed. "The other two… Mami and Kyoko, you said their names were?" Miki nods, and she continues. "If Madoka's good with it… then yeah, I guess I'll go with you."

"Sweet," Miki says. "So Sayaka and I will head over to Mami's apartment and see what's up while Madoka, Doka, and Homura look for... Homura."

Doka nods. "Sounds good to me. Homura, Madoka, are you two ready?"

They both nod, though Madoka makes the mistake of glancing over at Homura, eliciting a blush in the both of them. "Then let's do this."

* * *

Back in Mami's apartment, things were going as well as could be expected.

The loud crash of a door being slammed grabs Sakura and Tomoe's attention, they turn to watch Kyoko storm out of Mami's bedroom, eyes glistening.

Tomoe jumps out of her seat, reaching out to the upset girl. "Kyoko, what happ-"

"Fuck you!" Kyoko snarls, stomping off to the guest bedroom with nary a glance.

Tomoe flinches, staring hurtfully at the younger girl's back, before turning to her counterpart.

"You check on yours," Sakura sighs, "I'll go after mine." she promptly stands up and does just that, not waiting for an answer.

Tomoe watches her go with a feeling of déjà vu, before nodding to herself and making her way to her old bedroom. "Mami?" she calls, knocking on the wooden door. "Are you okay?"

Her only response is a choked sob. She grabs the handle, but pauses. "Mami, I'm going to come in-"

"Don't." Mami's voice is weak, trembling. "Please don't. I-I just want to be left alone."

Tomoe frowns. "O-Okay. I can do that." She pauses. "Do you have any grief seeds in there?"

Mami takes a few seconds to answer. "Y-Yes, I do. N-Now, please-"

"I understand. I'm going now." With a remorseful sigh, she heads back to the dining room. Sakura's back already, she notices, running calloused fingers through her long red hair.

"Any luck?" Sakura asks.

Tomoe shakes her head. "Mami.. she wanted to be left alone."

Sakura nods. "Same with Kyoko. She just kept on telling me to fuck off, so I did." She shrugs.

Tomoe practically collapses onto the chair beside Sakura, a tired sigh escaping her. "What happened?" she says.

Sakura places a comforting hand on Tomoe's shoulder. "Their chat didn't go so well, I guess."

Tomoe reaches up to rub at her eyes. "I should have known they wouldn't just get along. You told me, too, but I didn't listen!" Her shoulders sag as her gaze falls to the ground. "This is my fault, isn't it?"

Sakura wraps her arms around Tomoe's shoulders, pulling her in for a hug. "And I went along with this, in case you don't remember. But that's in the past now, OK?"

Tomoe slowly nods. If the two of them had learned anything in their decade or so of fighting witches, it was that mistakes were inevitable and blaming yourself could wait until the danger had passed.

Tomoe nodded more surely. She had messed up, yes, but angsting about it would have to wait.

"What do we do?" Tomoe asks. "We can't help them, not when they want to be alone."

"Then we try to figure out why they got upset," Sakura says. "And why _their_ talk went differently than ours."

Tomoe pauses, thinking. "Well… maybe it was too sudden? I had been in the same city as you for almost a month, when we had our talk. I was… I guess I was used to the idea of you, you weren't just someone I _used_ to know. It would be the same with you, too."

Sakura nods, but her frown says she doesn't think that's the full picture. "Maybe… but I think the bigger reason was Walpurgisnacht."

Tomoe nods. "Our fight against her… we all walked away from that fight… different, a bit changed. We reevaluated things, how we felt… yes, I could see that being the reason for why the two of us were able to make up."

Sakura is unable to stop herself from snorting. "A bit changed? Reevaluated some things? Tomoe, you're really underselling it." Her expression becomes more downcast, and she looks away from her companion. "Before Walpurgisnacht, I used to tell myself that you were better off without me. That I could only hurt you. And every time you were hurt because I was a bitch to you, that only convinced me more. But…" she swallows, unable to get rid of the lump in her throat. "It was kind of hard to tell myself that after I died saving you.."

Tomoe gulped, thinking of painful memories that were best forgotten.

 _Mami panted, lungs craving more air than she could give them. Her muscles burned, her soul gem was getting dark, but she couldn't take a break. She raised her rifle, taking aim at the cackling monster, but paused before she could pull the trigger._

' _Where's Sayaka?' she thought, looking around the battlefield. She was supposed to be handling the familiars, but she was nowhere to be seen..._

 _In her distracted state, she almost didn't notice the thing sneaking up on her. It was pitch black, formed in the shape of a person. A familiar._

 _She turned to face it, rifle at the ready, but it was too close, she couldn't hit it it, she was going to-_

" _Watch out!" Kyoko cried, barrelling into the familiar at a speed that was faster than Mami had ever seen her move. The two of them went tumbling off Mami's heap of rubble, the familiar grinning on the way down._

 _Mami tensed her legs, ready to jump after them, but an explosion knocked her off balance and she fell on her face._

 _An explosion? Was that Homura? No, she was flanking the witch, trying to use an army's worth of firepower to distract it. But then-_

 _Mami's eyes went wide. Was the familiar a suicide bomber?_

" _No," she whispered. "No, Kyoko, no, please-"_

 _She tried to push herself up, but winced in pain as something digs into her hand. It's just some rubble she noted, stained red with blood._

 _She started pulling it out, but paused. It wasn't slick with blood, it was clean. It wasn't not rubble either. It was a shard of some gem._

" _No," Mami whispered. A shard of a bright red gem. "No, no no. Kyoko, no!"_

 _Her eyes swept across the rubble, catching glimpses of more red shards. "No… Kyoko…"_

 _She was so focused on the shards of Kyoko's soul gem, she didn't notice the skyscraper aimed in her direction._

Tomoe shakes her head, banishing the memory. It wouldn't help to dwell on that - she had died, yes, but Madoka had saved her. She had saved everyone, when she had wished for all of them of them to come back to life and live happily ever after.

"I think you're right," Tomoe says. "Dying… that changed a lot of things."

Sakura blinks, snapping out of her own flashback. "Y-Yeah," she says. "That-"

She's interrupted by the sound of a door slamming, and they both snap their gaze to the source. It's Kyoko, stomping away from the room she had holed up in and heading for the exit. "I'm leaving," she says, voice still a bit shaky.

Sakura puts a hand on her shoulder, but Kyoko brushes past. As she reaches the door, she glances at Tomoe. "I'm… goodbye, Mami."

Kyoko leaves the apartment and Sakura rushes to follow her, shooting Tomoe an apologetic glance and a wave goodbye.

"Hey," Sakura says, following her younger self. "You okay?"

Kyoko growls. "Would you fuck off? I'm not going back to them like some sort of lost puppy."

"That's fine," Sakura says. "We don't have to go back if you don't want to. We can go wherever you want, but I'm gonna go with you."

Kyoko growls, but doesn't try to stop her, which Sakura takes as a win.

It's very good that Kyoko doesn't try to stop her, because there's no way Sakura is going to Kyoko, of all people, be alone.


End file.
